Ceremony held for rescuers of child left in car

Socorro, Texas police, firefighters and paramedics who saved a child that was left in a car last week will be honored Thursday.

The Socorro Police Department received a report of an 8-month-old child locked in a vehicle at about 4 p.m. in the 10600 block of North Loop, officials said. Several police officers, firefighters and paramedics were sent to scene. The only description of the vehicle was that it was black.

The officers, firefighters and paramedics searched the parking lot until they found the child in the car. Firefighter Jesus Gutierrez removed the child from the car, officials said. Paramedics began cooling down the child, who was reportedly sweating profusely. Once the child's vital signs were stabilized, the child was returned to his mother, officials said.

The child was thought to have been with another family member but was "accidentally left in the vehicle," officials said.

"If not for the immediate and swift response by everyone involved, this 8-month-old child could have become part of the growing number of children who tragically die from heat exposure when left inside an unattended vehicle," City of Socorro officials said in a statement.

A ceremony will be held at 9 a.m. on Thursday at the Socorro City Courthouse, 860 Rio Vista. The ceremony is opened to the public.